Iceland sits astride the mid Atlantic ridge, one of the world's tectonic plate boundaries. The crustal plates here are moving away from each other and as a result we experience earthquakes and eruptions. At around 11pm last evening there was a great booming sound and the house shook and rattled. The 'quake lasted only a few seconds and things quickly returned to normal.
These days whenever we have such an event we quickly look up what happened on a website maintained by the Icelandic met office. It records the signals received from many sensors scattered around the country and updates the website in almost real time. It's an impressive resource and is well worth browsing around.

We learned that last evenings 'quake was just 2.4 on the Richter scale but felt more powerful as it occurred 4.9 kilometres underground and just over three kilometres from where we live. The small red dot just north of Hveragerði on the map shows the location of the earthquake.

... is the title of a recently published book by Ari Trausti Guðmundson.

It covers the geological history of Iceland and provides a very good insight into the processes that shaped the country. The book also contains a substantial contribution from well known geologist, Halldór Kjartansson who sadly died in 1995.

We've noticed that more and more participants in our tours are developing a greater interest in geology and this book is heartily recommended to them.

It's widely available in Icelandic bookshops or from the publishers Mál og Menning.

We've been sifting through our recent pictures and have assembled a new photo album of images from this summer's trips together with some old favourites as well.
Magazines, brochures and guide books are full of stunning Iceland images, mostly taken by professionals, but we think it's worth mentioning that all the pictures in this album were taken with an ordinary 'point and shoot' camera.
Fortunately, you don't need to be a specialist to take reasonable pictures here — photography in Iceland is accessible to all.

We've refreshed our website to include more of Mike Langman's wonderful artwork. Iceland enthusiast Mike has an enviable knack for catching his subjects' 'wildness' with pens and brushes. We understand that a new painting of pink-footed geese flying near Iceland's most famous volcano, Hekla will be exhibited at the weekend. Here's a sneak peek...

It's been a busy summer with, wait for it, lots of good weather! Our groups have thoroughly enjoyed their trips and we have had some wonderful wildlife sightings — which is a good excuse to insert this photo of some puffins taken recently on the lovely island of Flatey, west Iceland.

We're already taking bookings for next year (and indeed 2009); we can't promise you good weather but we can promise a great time.

The weather is always a popular topic of conversation here. Weather patterns are very changeable and accurate forecasting is difficult to achieve. The Iceland Meterological Service has an important job to do and a recent upgrade of its website has resulted in a great improvement in the display of weather information and forecasts — highly recommended. The site also has seismic information and historical weather data. It's well worth a look before you visit Iceland. However, whatever the forecast, don't leave your waterproofs at home!

Perhaps this thought was in the mind of a very obliging common seal photographed in west Iceland last weekend!

It’s the time of year when harlequin ducks move away from the coast to inland streams and rivers to breed. The drakes, resplendent in their extraordinary vivid plumage, are now starting to show off and add a wonderful touch of colour to some very remote landscapes. Harlequins are a great favourite with our groups and we have had some very good views during these past days. You’ll often find them in the turbulent water at the bottom of a waterfall, surfing the crests of the fast-flowing water. The picture of these three males and a female was taken in west Iceland a couple of days ago.

If you plan on visiting Iceland this summer then you may find our information sheet helpful. You can download it here

Don't forget your waterproofs!

are arriving in Iceland at the moment. They're a symbol of summer and it's lovely to see and hear them once again. We've been out and about rather a lot in southern Iceland these past few days and have noted many flocks of these birds returning to Iceland to breed.


The UK's Royal Society for the Protection of Birds has a web page with more information about this delightful small wader including a link which allows you to listen to its plaintive call.

At last some good conservation news from Iceland ...

Iceland's parliament agreed on Saturday to the establishment of Vatnajökulsthjódgardur which will become the largest national park in Europe. It will cover the Vatnajökull glacier and encompass existing national parks at Skaftafell and Jökulsárgljúfur.

The park is scheduled to open next summer and will cover more than 12% of Iceland.

Vatnajökulsthjódgardur is in south east Iceland and has some of the most impressive scenery to be found anywhere in the country.

It's a quiet time of year here in Iceland so we're away on holiday ourselves. Email, phone and fax contact may be a bit slow so apologies if we keep you waiting. Back on 6 March.

We've had quite a few enquiries about the 'great auk' trip we run for the UK based Travelling Naturalist.

As far as we can tell this tour is unique — a blend of modern Iceland and its wildlife, particularly seabird colonies, and learning about an extinct bird, the original penguin. On one day we sail around Eldey Island in SW Iceland where the last two great auks were killed in 1844.

Full details are on the Travelling Naturalist's website.

Eldey and the great auks pictured above were drawn by talented bird artist Mike Langman. Mike has recently completed a mural in Devon depicting the sad tale of the species' extinction which is also exhibited on his site.

We’ve seen quite a few gyr falcons these past weeks. There’s been a falcon flying around the town of Hveragerði and just a couple of days ago one of our groups travelling with the UK based Heatherlea saw this young female at very close range — an unforgettable experience.

Gyr falcons have an almost mythical status for many birdwatchers and a recently published book about the species by Sale and Potopov is a must read if you want to learn more about this incredible raptor

The holiday season has been very mild and wet with daily temperatures much higher than usual for the time of year. Rainfall has also been heavy with lots of flooding in southern Iceland on the days leading up to Christmas. One farm was completely cut off by flood waters as the picture from Icelandic daily Morgunblaðið shows.

What's in store for 2007? Well, who knows, but don't leave your raincoat behind!

A happy new year to you all.